Children hear conversations about relatives and friends with various medical conditions and are curious. They may be concerned about getting sick themselves. Presenting information to them in an easily readable form not only informs them but also may ease their fears. It might even awaken an interest in science as a career.

This book in the Disease Updates series focuses on breast cancer, providing current information in an accessible form for young readers. It includes seven chapters, a disease profile, a series of questions and answers, a history timeline, and information for further research including useful websites, a glossary, and a subject index. The book is well illustrated with photographs, tables, diagrams, and other illustrations. Scattered through the chapters are sidebars of interesting information. For example, one discusses the fact that sales of a special breast cancer stamp (which children might see displayed at a post office) have raised over $50 million for research.

The text is quite interesting, focusing on people with disease and their stories. Many of them are young and so their stories can be relevant to young readers. This book should help to answer a student’s questions and also demonstrate the usefulness of medical knowledge. This would be a useful addition to any school’s library and should be considered to support both health and life science content. This book in the series is an NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for 2008.